All Photos: Alan Mercer Hair & Make-up: Jennifer Farhood Lighitng: Eric V.
Wendy Dio is the widow of the late rocker Ronnie James Dio. She managed his career for many years before his death from stomach cancer on May 16, 2010. She is extremely grounded, intelligent and fascinating...and I'm sure you'll agree after reading this!
Wendy has lived in the world of hard rock music for many years now. With this time comes a well deserved respect for all she has been able to accomplish. She is determined to continue the legacy of Ronnie by managing his surviving band under the new name Dio Disciples. She is also running her own record label.
I met Wendy through my dear friend Bebe Buell when they decided to work together with Wendy managing Bebe's music career. I took these shots of Wendy when I took the photo for their press release at Wendy's home.
AM: Wendy, why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?
WD: I'm from Essex in England. I worked at record labels and booking agencies over there. I also worked for attorneys in the music industry.
AM: How did you end up being a manager?
WD: Well I met Ronnie in 1974 and he was in 'Rainbow' at that time. I was just the wife then. He got fired from 'Rainbow' because he wouldn't write more commercial songs. We were living in Connecticut then and I suggested we move to Los Angeles.
AM: Was there a reason you wanted to be in Los Angeles?
WD: I knew Sharon Arden at the time who is Sharon Osbourne now. We got together and she said there were some problems going on with 'Black Sabbath' and Ozzy. She wondered if Ronnie wanted to come audition. Ronnie did audition and they wrote 'Children Of The Sea' that night. He was now in 'Black Sabbath' and I was still the wife. I started managing Ronnie when he left 'Rainbow.' Then when he left Black Sabbath in 1982 he decided to start his own group, 'Dio.' That's when I really started managing him.
AM: Did Ronnie want you to manage him?
WD: He wanted me to do it and I didn't know if I should. I suggested we put a band together to see if I knew what I was doing, so we put together a band called 'Rough Cut.' I managed that band and 'Alcatraz' and 'Dio' and I co-managed 'Quiet Riot' for a while after Kevin was gone.
AM: Did you stumble into managing?
WD: Kind of, yes. I did have a background because I had worked for people in the music business. I had worked for attorneys so I knew how to read contracts.
AM: What qualities does it take to be a good manager?
WD: I think you have to understand your client. I have to put things firmly but respectfully together. You lead them in a way that you think would be best for their career. They obviously need to have their say so too. You figure out the path to take.
AM: Is there anything else you have experience with that helps you be a good manager?
WD: I also have a vast experience with publishing. I did a lot of publishing deals for Ronnie. Publishing is something that most people do with one big company like Warner-Chapel. I decided it was very hard to keep track of things therefore I went to Italy and got a small publisher and then went to Spain and got a small publisher and then to France and did the same thing and to Germany and got another small publisher. None of them were cross collateralized which means the artist gets more money. This way you can keep tabs on it and they will do promotion for you in each country.
AM: Is this the standard way of doing this or did you come up with this yourself?
WD: I think people do it more often now. In the 80's everyone got a huge advance so they went with one publisher.
AM: How did you realize this?
WD: Trial and error really. I used to teach management at UCLA in the 80's. Management is something that you really can't learn in school. You have to learn yourself because each artist is different.
AM: When you did teach management where would you start?
WD: Well I'd start with telling them how to dress. Most women would come with studded collars and I'd start with telling them we are not the artist. If you're going to Warner Bros. to ask for a million dollars you should look like you don't need it. I always suggested that they dress appropriately for the business world.
AM: Is the hard part managing these artists egos?
WD: I think all artists are children. They chose a job where they never had to grow up. They want to be told what to do and when to do it. They want someone to take care of their career for them. A manager is a caretaker as well. I do try to wean them off of being too needy, but most of them are.
AM: What are some of the changes you have seen happen in this business?
WD: Lots of changes. When I started management Ronnie was signed to Warner Bros. in the United States and PolyGram in Europe. In the 90's the world fell apart. All the business suits came in and it wasn't the music people running the show.
AM: How did this affect you the most?
WD: Ronnie got dropped and Van Halen got dropped, all these people got dropped. It turned into an alien world where I had to go out and find independents which were a nasty name at that time. I met with every small label.
AM: What did you think of the independents?
WD: The independents are very smart people. I found out that now, instead of selling my soul, which you have to do with a Warner Bros. who will own your record forever, you can license an independent your music for five or seven years and then you get it back. Now the independents have taken over and are having a field day! They get it that a classic band will sell an album forever instead of some new pop act where hopefully you have a hit.
AM: What about downloads?
WD: You'll find in heavy metal that the fans want physical more than downloads. They like the nice packaging and are willing to pay for it. This is what we try to do.
AM: Is hard rock music just as happening today as it has been?
WD: There's always a cult following. Our facebook has over 800,000 people. We get over seven million hits a day. The classic acts like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Metallica, those kids never go away. They are faithful and loyal, even their children are reared on it. Then you've got the next generation coming up.
AM: What is the future of this music? Do you think it will come back even bigger?
WD: I don't know that it will come back bigger because my generation and the people I deal with are all the innovators. There are some very good new bands coming up.
AM: We all know you just signed Bebe Buell. Are you looking to manage more artists now?
WD: No, not in management. I've formed a record label and I'm getting out of management except for Bebe, 'The Rods' and 'Dio.' The new band name is 'Dio Disciples.' I am signing lots of acts to the record label. I just signed a group called HeadCat which is Lemmy from 'Motorhead' and Slim Jim from the 'Stray Cats' and they are fabulous music.
AM: Would you sign a young 18 year old artist?
WD: No because I'm interested in classic bands with a catalog. New bands are a lot of work.
AM: Now a lot of people know who Bebe is, but some people do need to be introduced to her music.
WD: They need to know that she and her band are credible. She's always had a singing career it was just overshadowed by her modeling. We'll see what we can do!
AM: I know you have a wonderful charity.
WD: Yes I do. When Ronnie passed away from stomach cancer many fans wanted to send flowers and I thought we don't need any flowers. We need to put the money somewhere and I didn't know who to give it to, so I thought I really want to make sure the money is going to the right place. I didn't want it going to administration costs. We formed the 'Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund.' I have a board of fifteen people. We're all volunteers so there's no administration cost at all.
AM: You've already donated a lot of money haven't you?
WD: We've raised over $400,000 just in T-shirt sales alone. We gave $100,000 to T. J. Martel for prostate and colon cancer. We gave $117,000 to MD Anderson for gastric and stomach cancer. We have a guitar auction that is going to be either October this year or March next year at Sotheby's. We've got guitars from Bon Jovi, Metallica, Slash, Rush, everybody. I've got fifty so far and I want a hundred. We've got a CD and a concert for this year or next year. I want to get the CD out first.
AM: Where will you do the concert?
WD: We want to do one in New York, one in London and one in Los Angeles. We also want to take the guitars on tour so fans can see them. It's great to be able to raise this money and see where it's going. One last thing, we want to focus on men's cancer because women are pretty good at going for check ups and men do not go.
Wendy with client Bebe Buell
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